The Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority Commissioned a State of the Art Mobile Harbor Cranes

By Abdul Rahman Bangura–

Photo Credit: Nigerian Ports

NEW AFRICA BUSINESS NEWS ( NABN ) Freetown, Sierra Leone- Windfalls to the Maritime Sector of Nigeria, as the sector earned a prominent upswing as the recently developed multimillion dollars state of the art Mobile Harbor Cranes (MHCs) by APM Terminal and were commissioned by Hadiza Bala Usman – Managing Director of Nigeria Ports Authority.

Besides, the cranes are fraction of APM Terminals’ supplementary interest of $80 million (N33.6billion) for the 2020-2021 geared toward at improving shipment liturgy delivery in the port. This gives rise to the total enterprise by the corporation in Apapa since 2006 to $438 million (about N184billion).

The Managing Director of the Nigeria Ports Authority – Hadiza Bala Usman in the circumstance of executing the commissioning, glorified the management of APM Terminals for obtaining the contemporary cranes and remarked the ports accommodation was conducted by the Federal Government to enhance port efficiency and free government reserves for other developmental motives. She announced, cargo sizes at the port have noticed a continual increase, scheduled to acceptable government policies, guaranteeing that NPA has proceeded to inundate with private terminal operators at the port to rise up to the challenge of the increased cargo traffic.

‘’The engagement with the operator is yielding tangible results as evidenced by the commissioning of the two new Mobile Harbor Cranes, among others,’’ stated Usman, adding that as the port systems evolve the more productive, endeavors must be made to strengthen cargo delivery processes and free the ports of longstanding cargo.

“We are engaging with the Nigeria Customs Service to remove overtime containers from the port to free vital space for incoming cargo.

“We are also working with terminal operators to increase the barging of containers to take pressure off the roads. We have noted a significant growth in barging capacity and operations with more containers moved daily by barges from the port,” she explained.

The Head of Terminals, Africa and Middle East region of APM Terminals – David Skov, asserted before now, the company had subsidized $358million (N150.36billion) in port infrastructure development, information technology upgrades and modern cargo handling equipment to improve both quayside and landside operations.

According to Skov, “The additional investment we are making is to handle the increased trade volumes into Nigeria. Trade in Nigeria is growing due to the many favorable efforts and policies of the Federal government of Nigeria including but not limited to the policy on ease of doing business; stabilization of foreign exchange; closure of the land borders which has increased the use of our sea ports; and diversification of the economy.

“The additional investments will create capacity to handle the growth in the economy to support the Federal government’s efforts on trade growth and improve service delivery across the logistic chain in Nigeria.”

He declared with the obtainment of the new cranes, the terminal now operates with a total of ten Mobile Harbor Cranes; 23 Rubber-Tyred Gantry Cranes; six Empty Handlers; 48 specialized Truck Terminals, six Reach Stackers and 11 Forklifts.

Also speaking, the President-General, Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Adewale Adeyanju, who was represented by the union’s Deputy President-General, Tonye Harry, applauded APM Terminals for the investment and for improving port services in Nigeria.

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